At a recent meeting in Abuja, the Council of State announced a halt to
the registration of non-indigenes and forcible relocation of Nigerians
from their places of abode to their states of origin, against their
wish. Chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, the meeting had in
attendance former military leaders like Generals Yakubu Gowon,
Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida as well as Second Republic
President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and former Head of the Interim National
Government, Chief Earnest Shonekan. There were also in attendance two
former Chief Justices of Nigeria, (Muhammed Lawal Uwais and Salihu Alfa
Belgore) and almost all the governors of the 36 states.
In a joint briefing after the meeting, Governors Godswill Akpabio,
Babangida Aliyu and Sullivan Chime alongside the National Security
Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), said the decisions were arrived at to
preserve the unity and stability of the country. Akpabio described the
meeting as the most important Council of State meeting in the past five
years because it took decisions that could be considered critical to the
nation’s existence as a united entity.
“One of the most important things we took up at the meeting was the
issue of how Nigerians can actually be Nigerians in their country and
feel free to live and do their business without molestation. The council
viewed seriously the report that some citizens were being deported.
Deportation should be from one country to another, but where you have a
Nigerian who is being returned to his state of origin from another, you
know there is a problem. Also council frowned at the idea of even
registering Nigerians in various parts of the country and felt this must
be brought to an end immediately. We looked at all these issues and the
role every leader should play - from the local council to federal
levels - to ensure that we solidify the unity of this country,” said
Akpabio.
It is very evident that what we are witnessing today in our country is a
collapse of the political consensus that has for decades held this
nation together. However, against the background that there are usually
challenges in the process of integrating members of any society into a
cohesive social whole, what confronts us in Nigeria today is also not
particularly peculiar.
On the current situation in the Northeast for instance, the campaign of
terror by Boko Haram seems to be working because our security
infrastructure has proved incapable of standing up to the challenge
thrown up by this murderous gang. But as we have also noted several
times on this page, reprisal attacks in any part of Nigeria will merely
play into the hands of a sect that represents only itself. This is a
campaign of terror for which anyone could fall victim so it should not
be seen as a campaign targeted at any ethnic group or religion. Rather
than allow the merchants of terror to further polarise and set us
against ourselves, we need to see through and reject their murderous
antics.
While we exhort Nigerians not to give in to terror through panicky and
precipitate actions that have been on the increase recently, we also
call on the federal government to show more seriousness in confronting
this dangerous national security threat. Innocent citizens resident in
Boko Haram's area of operation must be adequately protected so they can
feel secure enough to continue with their normal lives and without
molestation by security forces. It is trite to say that it is the duty
of government at all levels to create the enabling environment that
would give the citizenry a true sense of belonging and faith in the
assertion that this country belongs to all of its peoples irrespective
of ethnic origin or religion. However, the greater challenge lies with
the Nigerian people who must understand that our diversity is our
strength.
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